18 Till I Die

I hate telemarketers, but I really don't mind pollsters. Call me old-fashioned, but I like thinking that maybe someone (besides you, dear blawg readers) cares about my views. Maybe my responses will move everyone to the left just a little bit, if even only until the election.

I remember when I was a kid, when my parents would hang up on pollsters. "You should've let me answer it!" I would whine.

Just last week, I was headed to meet friends when my cell phone rang, and a young man promised to only take ten minutes of my time and asked if I would answer a few questions regarding the upcoming local election. And, man, was I pleased that someone wanted to hear what I had to say.

That's kind of sad, isn't it? That I'm just dying to talk to some stranger just to vent my opinion about the trash on the sidewalks?

You want to hear something even sadder? Tonight, I answered my home phone and it was a nice young lady from Zogby International calling. Woo Hoo! Another Poll! Now everyone, and I mean everyone, will know what I think about the parking situation. (As in most cities, it's bad, in case you were wondering.)

Except that then, she asked, "Can I speak to a member of the household who is between the ages of 18 and 24?" WTF? Could it be that I've already grown out of the age that pollsters care about? How sad is that? Where did the time go?

1 comment:

It's true. We're too old. The 18-24 folk are traditionally the target group for anything from politics to Crystal Pepsi. The 18-24 crowd is also the most apathetic in regard to elections. They account for almost a quarter of the total US population, and only about a third vote. If a candidate can get just a few in this group to stop their busy lives for about two seconds and actually care about something, it could swing an election.